I purchased this 3inch partial lug GP100 4 years ago from a friend who just didn’t see the cool factor in revolvers at the time.
Mike was truly a Glock aficionados, they were his passion and his love. Though Mike had impaired vision he was more than capable of drilling the center of a target out at 7 to 25 yards and often did with his Glock 32 which he often carried.
Mike did not let his illness stand in his way of doing what he loved to do, perfecting Glocks and spending time on the range. He was quite the capable Glock Armorer and though I have always read and heard about those Glock fanatics I never really met one until meeting Mike. About a year ago Mike and I had our last visit to the range, I noticed when picking him up he didn’t have the excitement he normally would exhibit on range day. I asked about his gloomy mood and his response was I am ok, so I didn’t press and we just headed to the range. After getting to the range Mike pulls out a Sig 229 Equinox and though I am a revolver guy even this piece made me drool. I remember to this day Mike had a slight smile on his face and after his first 5 rounds down range he shakes his head lays the Sig down, I look at the target and there is about a 1 inch group about chest level on the silhouette target. He looks at me and says I feel like I am cheating on my Glocks :). Of course then I knew what was wrong, he had finally found something that tickled his fancy more or equal to that of a Glock.

On January 22, 1976 Mike was born into this world and departed us on January 19, 2011 leaving behind his Wife Jan, many many friends and colleagues but the shooting world has lost a true advocate and Glock has lost one of it’s biggest fans. In Memory of Mike I headed out to the range with 100 357Magnum rounds I had reloaded and my GP100. When first introduced in the mid 1980s as a replacement to the Ruger Six Series
the GP 100 found many supporters as well as many detractors of those that loved the very stout Six Series. After 2 decades the Ruger has won most of the Six Series fan base back with the GP100, it has gargantuan fan base and cult like following. Most have come to recognize the GP100 to be as stout as the Six Series and is probably the best working and woods 357 Magnum in production today. Ruger engineers did an awesome job designing the GP100. There are many variants of the GP100 in blued and stainless models, but it is my belief the 3inch Barrel partial lug is one of the most sought after GP100’s made.Fit&Finish=4of5 Stars
The GP100 is built like a tank and guaranteed to last a lifetime and provide plenty of fun on the range as well as protection in the home or woods. The 3inch GP 100 comes with a fixed rear sight and a pinned in front sight. The grips are compact with wood inserts for better concealment. The adjustable sight models used to come with full size grips and wood inserts, now they come with Hogue rubber grips. Any new GP100 purchased today will have the Hogue rubber grips, though it is a trusted platform I can’t bring myself to like the GP100 with the Hogue Rubber Monogrips. To ensure I am very clear the grips are probably better fitted to tame the recoil of the 357 Magnum and fits my hands. I just can’t bring myself to enjoy the presentation/look of the GP100 with Hogue Monogrips.
I found no tool marks on my GP100 and the stainless was very smooth with no scratches as I have seen on some of the new Smith and Wesson Revolvers. The reason for 4 out of 5 stars has to do with the very large billboard saftey warning on the left side of the barrel. Ruger please do us a favor and rid us of this safety warning as well as fire the lawyer which convinced you all to put it there.Trigger=3of5 Stars
The trigger of Ruger DA revolvers have been the topic of many internet forum and gunshop debates. Many have a love hate relationship with the Ruger trigger especially those Smith and Wesson lovers. This models trigger is not great but not bad either. The double action pull on this model weighs in at 14 pounds, though heavy and long it is very smooth. The single action trigger pull weighs in at 4.5 pounds on the RCBS trigger gauge. Because of it’s modularity the GP100’s trigger can be slicked up very nicely with a wolff spring kit. I have chosen to leave mine stock because I am a big believer in “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” especially when it is a weapon I plan to use to protect me and my family.Reliability&Accuracy4of5 Stars
Reliability is of the utmost importance when it comes to a self defense weapon followed closely by accuracy. The GP100 did not let me down in either category. All testing was conducted with my 357 Magnum 158grain reloads. These rounds were primed with CCI small pistol magnum primers known as the hardest cup primers in the industry and there were no failure to ignites. The test were completed using a two handed unassisted hold at 7, 15 and 25 yards on 5 inch targets. The top center target was 6 shots at 7 yards, the bottom center target is at 15 yards. The target to the left was 6 shots at 25 yards as well as the target on the far right was also at 25 yards. The next time the GP100 accompanies me to the range I will drag my sandbags along and do some rested test and I am sure the groups would tighten up quite a bit.Conclusion
The Ruger GP100 3inch Barrel proves to have the capability to fill many niches. Though it won’t pass as a target range gun it will provide much fun on the range with decent enough accuracy for bragging rights with your shooting buddies.
Pros: Extremely rugged, reliable, and accurate. A superb home, car, field and personal protection revolver.
Cons: Heavy Long Double Action Trigger.

Mike I know you had started to warm up to revolvers based on your purchase of the S&W 642 as a carry piece, but I also know you considered Glock to be the ultimate of combat handguns. Our personalities are both strong willed and being a revolver fanatic Mike knows I would consider this GP100 to be the ultimate in combat weapons. More than anything I wish my friend were around for us to continue this debate, Mike you will be missed but rest assured this GP100 will always remind me of the great times we had on the range together and will be a part of my collection until I come to visit you again.

In Memory of Mike Hale

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GP100 3inch Barrel Range Review:In Memory of Mike, 9.2 out of 10 based on 17 ratings

4 Comments on "GP100 3inch Barrel Range Review:In Memory of Mike"

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Mike was a good guy, probably the only thing that could match his enthusiasm for the Glocks would be the computer 🙂 I’ve known Mike since the early days of BBS when he ran one (The Sandman). I had the opportunity to work closely with him and enjoyed the discussions we had concerning firearms. I never made it to the range with him as you have. He will be missed.

My 4″ stainless GP100 is my goto gun, faultless in the several years I’ve owned it, and darned accurate too. The grip is the one thing I didn’t like–it came with the rubber & rosewood one like yours. I also detest the Hogue grip. I put the Pachmayr Gripper grips on mine, works great and looks better than the fat Hogues.